Mariona Barkus

Artist Statement

My painting process is a form of meditation, an opening up of myself to what is in the moment. The forms that appear as I apply paint guide me.

Intuitive layerings of paint become images that resemble natural phenomena.

Whether the viewer sees aerial landscapes, cave interiors, rushing waters, or close-ups of microbes, these paintings go beyond associations with the known. The forms prompt a slowing down of mental chatter as the work makes itself felt, calling forth archetypal experiences, becoming expressions of the mysterious, and alluding to the collective unconscious. Each image is a potential gateway to the inner self.

As painter, I act as conduit, seeking to express the ineffable. From macrocosm to microcosm, these forms echo a search for spirituality in our soul-numbing times.